The rescuing of people stranded in a body of water, particularly turbulent waters encountered in the oceans of the world, is not a simple task. In many environments, such as at off-shore drilling rigs, motorized boats are held by davits to be deployed in the event of an emergency, such as an explosion at the site, which might cause many people to be stranded in the water. Upon such a disaster, it is usually not difficult for the rescue craft to arrive at the location of the stranded person or persons, but rather the problem is boarding the person into the craft. Such a procedure is compounded not only if the person is unconscious or injured, but also if turbulent water is prevalent.
Present known devices of rescuing a person from the sea are not satisfactory for all encountered circumstances. One of the simplest known devices is a rope-like ladder which is attached to the boat at its hatch or portal and merely thrown in the water so that the person to be rescued might climb into the boat. While such may be satisfactory in calm seas, in turbulent situations it is not only difficult to climb the undulating ladder, but also it is highly likely that the person could be injured, as by striking his head on the gunnel or ledge below the hatch. Moreover, the ladder is totally useless if the person to be rescued is injured or unconscious. In such situations, the rescue boat must be manned with several people, some of whom must traverse down the ladder to assist the person to and up the ladder, while others in the craft assist to pull the person on board, while all the time trying to avoid contact with the undulating gunnel.
Another prior art device which has been utilized is a net-like structure which is thrown toward the person to be rescued. If conscious, he may then either hold onto or lay on the net while being pulled into the craft. Such a device suffers from the same problems as does the aforementioned ladder and is simply not a convenient and safe manner in which to rescue the panicked person.
A variety of the net-like structure just described involves a slat-like runner which is thrown into the water. In the operation of this device, the person is positioned on the structure and essentially rolled up into the craft. However, it is almost mandatory that a person from the craft be in the water to utilize this system of rescue, and in addition, at least two people in the craft must be employed to pull the person into the craft.
Thus, the need exists for a system which will allow the conscious person to easily enter the rescue craft on his own power, and a system which accommodates the facile assistance of an unconscious or injured person into the craft.